Web page display system

ABSTRACT

A display system displays web pages from web sites located on data communications networks such as the Internet network. The display system has display controls and a plurality of non-overlapping display areas. Each display area has independent display area controls and independently displays a web page. The display controls include a sizing control operable by a user to alter a size of all display areas simultaneously with one control action. The display system in an embodiment includes a browser software program to provide communications and display support. The browser software program is executed in only one instance to provide the support for the plurality of display areas. The display controls also include a designator control operable by a user to designate the number of the non-overlapping display areas to be displayed. The display controls also include a drag and drop control for universal reference locators.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to display systems for displaying electronicdata, and more particularly to network-based web page display systems.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Communication technologies continue to provide more capabilities,increase in capacity, and expand throughout the world. An internationalcommunication network known as the Internet is increasing in bothnumbers of users and capacity at nearly an exponential rate. TheInternet is accessible by the general public in a large number of placesaround the world. Users of the Internet have a universe ofnetwork-accessible information.

Along with the Internet, there is growth of other private, government,and commercial networks reserved for authorized users. For instance,some commercial networks are reserved for authorized users such asemployees, suppliers, or customers of a company. These other networksmay share communication links used by the Internet or they may not.

Regardless of whether the network is the Internet or other networks,users are able to obtain network-accessible information by using webpage display systems also known as network browsers. These web pagedisplay systems download web pages containing desired information fromthe Internet and various private networks. A web page is displayedthrough the use of the web page display systems on display screens ofuser terminals which include terminals, workstation monitors, televisionsets, and other display devices.

A web page provides many different formats of information includingtext, graphics, video, sound, and any other format of electronic data.One or more web pages are stored at web sites having web page serversthat are connected to the network and allow access to the web pages byusers of the particular network. The type of information at eachparticular web site varies from news, cultural, sports, commerce,governmental, corporate, investment, and other related topics. Theprivate networks usually are more limited in the type of informationprovided compared to the Internet.

Each web page also may contain numerous hypertext links which link oneweb page to many other web pages of related information. As networktechnology has progressed, everything from web page-based e-mailservices, groceries, bookstores, and brokers are competing for theattention of web page users. Web page users have voracious appetites fortechnology, information, and commerce. Skilled experts have beenreplaced by skilled masses capable of dealing with more web pages and avast variety of scenarios and applications. The majority of users remainunable to exploit the opportunities and efficiency of the networks dueto the simplicity and limitations of their web page browsers. These webpage browsers are interfaces which display the web pages on displayscreens of the user terminals.

Thus, it can be appreciated that there is a significant need for asystem and method that would enhance web browser capability and reducethe amount of time that a web page user requires to manage a web pagebrowser.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention resides in a display system for displaying webpages accessible on a network. The display system includes a computersystem configured to send requests for web pages via the network to webpage sites. The computer system also receives web pages via the networkfrom web page sites. The display system further includes a displayhaving display controls and a plurality of non-overlapping display areashaving adjustable sizes. The plurality of non-overlapping display areashave a collective size equal to the sum of the non-overlapping displayareas. Each non-overlapping display area has independent display areacontrols and is configured to independently display a web page receivedby the computer. A sizing control operable by a user is used to adjustthe sizes of the display areas simultaneously with one control actionwhile maintaining the collective size of the non-overlapping displayareas. In one aspect of the invention, the computer system executes onlyone instance of a software program for sending the web page requests andreceiving and displaying the requested web pages.

In one embodiment, the display system includes display controls thatactivate a group of the display areas to display a web page from a listof web page sites selected from a plurality of lists of web page sites.Each list of web page sites has a sequential order and has a number ofweb page sites not dependent on how many display areas are displayed.The computer stores the plurality of lists of web page sites.

In another embodiment, the sizing control includes a graphical object onthe display and the one control action is movement of the graphicalobject by the user using an input device. The display controls include adesignator control operable by a user to designate the number ofnon-overlapping display areas. In a further embodiment, the displaycontrols include a drag and drop control configured to drag and drop auniform reference locator from a first display area into a seconddisplay area. The second display area is configured to display a webpage associated with a uniform reference locator.

Other features and advantages from the invention will become apparentfrom the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a workstation terminal used to execute and display anembodiment of a web page display system according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a screen display of the web page display system of FIG. 1 usedto display four web pages.

FIG. 3 is a screen display of the web page display system of FIG. 2showing a result of sizing control.

FIG. 4 is a screen display of the web page display system of FIG. 2showing a main Browser menu.

FIG. 5 is a screen display of the web page display system of FIG. 1 sedto display three web pages.

FIG. 6 is a screen display of the web page display system of FIG. 1 usedto display two web pages.

FIG. 7 is a screen display of the web page display system of FIG. 1 usedto display one web page.

FIG. 8 is a screen display of the web page display system of FIG. 2 usedto display and select a web page to be saved.

FIG. 9 is a screen display of the web page display system of FIG. 2 usedto display and select a web page to be printed.

FIG. 10 is a screen display of the web page display system of FIG. 2used to display and select from a main Control menu.

FIG. 11 is a screen display of the web page display system of FIG. 2used to display and select from a main ScrollMarks menu.

FIG. 12 is a screen display of the web page display system of FIG. 2used to display and select from a main Favorites menu.

FIG. 13 is a screen display of the web page display system of FIG. 2used to display and select a web page to be added to a Favorites list.

FIG. 14 is a screen display of the web page display system of FIG. 2used to display and select from a main Configure menu.

FIG. 15 is a screen display of the Home and Search default settingsscreen of the web page display system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 16 is a screen display of the ScrollMarks settings screen of theweb page display system of FIG. 1 to select multiple web pages fordisplay as a group.

FIG. 17 is a screen display of the group menu of the ScrollMarkssettings screen used to display and select a group of multiple web pagesfor display.

FIG. 18 is a screen display of the web page display system of FIG. 2used to display and select a web page site for an individual web pagepane.

FIG. 19 is a screen display of the Configure screen of the web pagedisplay system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 20 is a screen display of the web page display system of FIG. 2used to display and select from a main Help menu.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Displaying multiple web pages simultaneously on a display screenfacilitates both navigation of web page-based networks and analysis ofweb page-based information by a web page user. It is helpful to havemore than one web page displayed at a time in navigating because webpage users can find themselves somewhat lost after following a longchain of hypertext links. For instance, in displaying a series ofweb-pages which follow a chain of hyper-text links, a user may want todisplay a particular web page while simultaneously displaying one ormore additional web pages from the chain of hyper-text links. Thedisplay of the particular web page helps the user keep a generalperspective in mind while the user examines more detail in additionalone or more displayed web pages.

Multiple web pages displayed concurrently can also help in researchinvolving comparisons such as in shopping at the consumer level.Comparisons made with multiple displayed web pages is also done forinstance at the corporate level for acquisition and project management.Displaying multiple web pages simultaneously can also help a user speedup searches. In this case a user views and studies one web page whileperforming a search through another web page if both are displayedsimultaneously.

Web page users typically launch a web page browser, such as MicrosoftInternet Explorer, and navigate to the desired web page. Navigationaltools, such as a back arrow and a forward arrow, allow the user to moveback and forth to previously visited web pages. However, this approachdoes not permit the user to view multiple web pages simultaneously. Onesolution to the problem of displaying only one web page at a time is torun multiple copies of web page browsers on the display screens of theiruser terminals. However, running multiple copies of web page browserssimultaneously can exact costs in both time for the user to configurethe display screen and resources required by the user terminal. Muchtime is spent positioning and resizing the web pages on the displayscreens so that each web page can be properly viewed. Also, multipleexecuted copies require excessive amounts of user terminal resources,such as system memory and communication bandwidth.

The present invention is directed to a system and method for a web pagedisplay system. Multiple web pages are displayed simultaneously with areduction of time and effort required by the user to position, size, andconfigure the web pages compared to prior art techniques. Also multipleweb pages are displayed with less system resources required by the userterminal compared to prior art techniques. These and other advantageswill become apparent in the following detailed description. In thefollowing description, numerous specific details are provided, such asspecific screen displays, placement and shapes of controls, and orderingof menu selections. One skilled in the relevant art, however, willrecognize that the invention can be practiced without one or more of thespecific details, or with other symbols, methods, etc. In otherinstances, well-known structures or operations are not shown ordescribed in detail to avoid obscuring the description of theembodiments.

A computer workstation user terminal 110 using an embodiment of the webpage display system of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1.The computer workstation user terminal 110 includes a computer 112, amonitor 114 including a display screen 116, a keyboard 118, and a mouseinput device 120 with a mouse button 120 a. The computer workstationuser terminal 110 accesses a network 130 using conventional networkingtechnology in order to download web pages for display. For example, thecomputer 112 can include a communication controller 125 for accessingthe network 130. The communication controller 125 may be a conventionalmodem using standard analog telephone lines. ISDN, T1, or other suchcommunication links. The computer 112 can also access the network via anetwork controller if the communication controller 125 is a networkinterface. Other conventional communication controllers may also bereadily used to implement the present invention. The operation of thesevarious devices to access the network 130 is well known in the art so itdoes not need to be explained in detail. The network 110 can be anynetwork that allows access to web page sites 132. The network 130 couldbe, for example, the Internet, a corporate network, a governmentnetwork, a private network, a commercial network, or other such network.

Once the computer workstation user terminal 110 downloads a web pagefrom a web page site 132, the web page is displayed on display 116. Theembodiment of the present invention allows multiple web pages to besimultaneously displayed such that the display screen 116 of thecomputer workstation user terminal 110 displays multiple web pages thathave been downloaded from multiple web page sites 132 off of the network130. The web page sites 132 can be interrelated of completelyindependent. The multiple web pages are displayed and communicationsupport is provided for communicating between the web page sites 132 andthe computer workstation user terminal 110 by executing only oneinstance of browser software on the computer workstation terminal 110.

FIG. 2 illustrates a screen display 210 of the web page display systemembodiment wherein four non-overlapping web pages are simultaneouslydisplayed. The particular four web pages displayed in FIG. 2 and theother particular web pages displayed in the other figures are forillustration purposes. The embodiment of the present invention is notlimited to displaying only these particular web pages shown in thefigures. Instead, the embodiment of the present invention displays anyweb page accessible through a network.

The four web page display 210 includes four display panes 212 a, 212 b,212 c, and 212 d. Each display pane 212 is a display area that framesand provides controls for a particular web page being displayed withinthe display pane 212. The descriptions of the individual controls forthe display pane 212 a are also applicable for the individual controlsfor the other display panes 212 b, 212 c, and 212 d.

Multiple display panes 212 a-d are implemented with only one instance ofmost executable portions of the associated browser software beingexecuted by associating an individual copy of a web browser control filewith each active display pane 212. In the case of Microsoft InternetExplorer 4.0, the depicted embodiment uses the Microsoft InternetExplorer web browser engine to display each web page in each displaypane 212. An individual copy of a web browser control computer filelabeled “shdocvw.dll” is associated with each display pane 212 byparenting, as known in the art, each individual web browser control intoan individual picture box associated with each display pane 212. When aparticular display pane 212 is revised, its associated picture box isrevised which then through the associated parenting causes the webbrowser to be appropriately revised. For the case of the four-web pagedisplay 210, four “shdocvw.dll” files are thus used in the control ofthe four display panes 212. However, only one copy of other computerfiles associated with execution are used which greatly reduces requiredcomputer memory to implement multiple display panes 212.

In an alternative embodiment, a Netscape Navigator web browser engine isused instead of the Microsoft Internet Explorer web browser engine. Whenthe Netscape Navigator web browser engine is used, an entire copy of theweb browser engine must be executed for each display pane 212 beingdisplayed. This is because currently the Netscape Navigator web browserengine does not provide a web browser control file similar to that foundin the Microsoft Internet Explorer web browser engine. As other webbrowser engines provide similar web browser control files, the depictedembodiment will utilize them for similar reductions in memoryrequirements. The use of web browser engines by the depicted embodimentwas described in particular with reference to web browser engines thatoperate under particular computer operating systems. However, thepresent invention is not limited to particular web browser engines orparticular computer operating systems but is intended to be used withall web browser engines and computer operating systems.

A back arrow control 220 and a forward arrow control 222 of the displaypane 212 a are both related to a sequence in which a series of web pageshave been initially displayed on display pane 212 a. The relatedsequence typically ends with a web page that has been most recentlydownloaded from the network 130 (see FIG. 1) and begins with a web pageleast recently downloaded from the network. Each time the back arrowcontrol 220 is selected the displayed pane 212 a will display the nextweb page that is closer to the beginning of the related sequence thanthe web page displayed at the time of activation. Each time the forwardarrow control 222 is selected, the display pane 212 a will display thenext web page that is closer to the end of the related sequence than theweb page displayed at the time of activation.

A stop control 224 of the display pane 212 a is used to terminate anycommunication currently in progress with a web site from which thecomputer workstation user terminal 110 (see FIG. 1) is downloading a webpage. A refresh control 226 of the display pane 212 a repeats a downloadof the web page currently displayed on the display pane 212 a A homecontrol 228 of the display page 212 a is used to access a default webpage that has been designated as a home web page. Home web pages will bediscussed further below.

A search control 230 of the display page 212 a accesses a web page thathas been designated as a search web page. Generally, search web pagescontain further controls related to searching for specific web pagescontaining desired information. Designation of search web pages arediscussed further below. A uniform resource locator (URL) 232 of thedisplay pane 212 a displays a URL of a current web page being displayed.The URL may be thought of as the “address” of the web site. Although theillustrated embodiment uses URLs, the present invention is not limitedto URLs. Any string expression that can represent a web page resource ona network may be satisfactorily used by the present invention. An accesscontrol 234 of the display pane 212 a, when selected, causes a pop-downlist of URLs to be shown on the display 116. The user can select the URLof a desired web page in a conventional fashion. As an option, this listmay be predefined as a designated group of URLs as discussed furtherbelow.

A status indicator 236 of the display page 212 a indicates whether theweb page display system is currently in the process of downloading a webpage. Downloading is indicated by a red dot being illuminated, whereas agreen dot being illuminated indicates no communication is currently inprogress.

A minimize control 238 of the display pane 212 a is integrated with anoperating system of the computer 112 hosting the web page display systemin the present embodiment of the invention. The minimize control 238 isused when a user desires the display 116 to display something other thanthe web pace display system of the present embodiment of the invention.A maximize control 240 of the display pane 212 a is similar to theminimize control 238 except the maximize control is used when a userdesires the entire display 116 to display the web page corresponding tothe display pane 212 whose maximize control is activated. A scrollcontrol 242 of the display pane 212 a controls the position of the webpage being displayed in the display pane 212 a. When web pages arelarger than the display pane 212 a, the scroll control 242 operates in aknown manner to permit the user to scroll through an entire web page.

The four web page display 210 also includes pop-down menu controls 214and a sizing control 216. While the controls for each display pane 212affect only that display pane, the pop-down menu controls 214 areoperable to control all four display panes 212 a, 212 b, 212 c, and 212d simultaneously. Certain aspects of the pop-down menu controls 214 canbe inactivated in a locked mode so that one or more of display panes 212are not affected by certain controls of the pop-down menu controls 214.This will be described in further detail below. The present embodimentof the invention is described in terms of a maximum of four displaypanes 212 displaying a maximum of four web pages. However, the presentinvention is not limited to displaying four web pages on four displaypanes, but can conveniently display any number of web pages on anynumber of display panes.

The sizing control 216 is operable to control the sizing of all fourdisplay panes 212 simultaneously. The sizing control 216 includes agraphical object displayed on the display screen 116 illustrated in FIG.2 as a dot. The sizing control 216 is positioned by a user typicallyusing the mouse input device 120. However, other computer controldevices, such as a trackball, joystick, and the like, may also be used.The sizing control 216 is positioned within the area of the four webpage display 210. The web page display system of the four web pagedisplay 210 maintains the four display panes 212 so that theintersection of their common corners is always at the position of thesizing control 216. The four display panes 212 may be resized when thesizing control 216 is repositioned using, by way of example, “drag anddrop” control. In this embodiment, the user manipulates the mouse inputdevice 120 to position a cursor (not shown) on the sizing control,activates a mouse button 120 a and keeps the mouse button activatedwhile moving the cursor to a desired new location. Once the cursor is atthe desired location, the user releases the mouse button toautomatically activate the resizing process. Thus, if the sizing control216 is moved to a different position, the size of the display panes 212will be automatically adjusted accordingly so that the intersection ofthe common corners of the display panes 212 will continue to be in theposition of the sizing control 216. This can be seen in FIG. 3 whereinthe sizing control 216 has been moved downward and to the left portionof the four web page display 210.as compared to the position of thesizing control 216 in FIG. 2. As sizing occurs the total combineddisplay area of the display panes 212 remains generally constant.

For the process of resizing, each active display pane 212 must besubject to a standard “move” command from a windows operating systemenvironment such as Windows 95, 98, NT, or other windows environments.Since, typically, windows operating system environments cannot processfour move commands simultaneously, one of the active display panes 212is first subject to the “move” command. In the depicted embodiment,display pane 212 a is first subject to the “move” command. When thesizing control 216 is repositioned by a user using the mouse inputdevice 120, the display pane 212 a is subject to the windows environment“move” command, which results in display pane 212 a being revised. Inthe depicted embodiment, if the sizing control 216 is moved, forexample, to a coordinate position of 150 pixels from the inside edge ofthe left border and 600 pixels from the inside edge of the top border ofthe four web page display 210, as shown in FIG. 3, the width and heightof display pane 212 a will be 150 and 600, respectively.

The remaining display panes 212 b-212 d are automatically resized usingadditional “move” commands. For example, the display pane 212 b will beautomatically resized using the windows environment “move” command withthe width of display pane 212 b being the distance from left borderinside edge to right border inside edge of the four web page display 210less the width of display pane 212 a and less the width of an interiorvertical border dividing display panes 212 a and 212 b. The height ofdisplay pane 212 b will be equal to the height of display pane 212 a asshown in FIG. 3. Once both the widths and heights of display panes 212 aand 212 b are determined, the width and height of display pane 212 c isdetermined and display pane 212 c is subjected to the windowsenvironment “move” command in a similar manner as described for displaypane 212 b except a distance from top border inside edge to bottomborder inside edge of the four web page display 210 and height of aninterior horizontal border 220 between display panes 212 a and 212 c areused in calculations. Finally, once the widths and heights aredetermined for display panes 212 a-c, the width and height for displaypane 212 d is determined and display pane 212 d is subjected to thewindows environment “move” command in a similar manner as described fordisplay panes 212 b and 212 c. An order of calculations and “move”commands similar to that described for the four web page display 210 areperformed for resizing of web page displays have greater or fewer numberof display panes 212 as the four web page display only tailored to thenumber of display panes 212 of the web page display involved. Also, ifthe display panes 212 are positioned in the web page display in adifferent arrangement than described for FIG. 3, the calculations wouldbe adjusted accordingly as would be understood by one of ordinary skillin the art.

Another consideration taken into account is the situation in which auser moves the sizing control 216 near or off the edge of the display116. For this case differences are determined in the size calculationsin conjunction with use of an absolute value function to avoid errorconditions in executing computer code as is typically used in the art.Resizing display panes 212 a and 212 b of the two web page display 610of FIG. 6 is dependent upon the configuration settings 1910 shown inFIG. 19 which dictate the orientation of the two display panes 212 a and212 b. If the two page web display 610 is configured to display displaypanes 212 a and 212 b vertically or horizontally, the width or heightrespectively of the display panes 212 a and 212 b will be affected.

A screen display of the menu selections of the Browser menu 214 of thefour web page display 110 is shown in FIG. 4. The menu selections of theBrowser menu 214 include One Window 412, Two Windows 414, Three Windows416, and Four Windows 418. These Browser menu 214 selections 412-418 andthe keyboard function keys F5 through F8 act as a designator controlwhereby selection results in one to four display panes 212 beingdisplayed. The display pane 212 a has the highest priority and willalways be displayed. The display pane 212 d has the lowest priority andwill only be displayed if the Four Windows menu selection 418 or the F8key is selected. Display pane 212 b will be selected if one of the TwoWindows 414, Three Windows 416, or Four Windows 418 of the Browser menu214 selections is selected or one of the F6 through F8 keys is selected.Display pane 212 c will be displayed if one of the Three Windows 416 orFour Windows 418 of the Browser menu 214 selections is selected or oneof the F7 or F8 keys.

The selection of a Rotate Windows menu selection 420 results in thedisplay panes 212 being rotated in position relative to one another. Thedisplay panes 212, however, stay in their non-overlapping positionwithin the four page display 210 as can be seen by comparing FIGS. 4 and2. FIG. 4 is the result of one execution of the Rotate Windows selection420. As can be seen by comparing FIGS. 2 and 4, after the rotation wascompleted, all the display panes 212 rotated one display pane in theclockwise direction. A Save As selection 422 and a Print selection 424will be further discussed below. An Exit selection 426 when selecteddeactivates the web page display system from its current execution onthe computer workstation user terminal 110. In one embodiment, displaypanes 212 are also automatically resized to a default size when theRotate Windows menu selection 420 is selected or when one of the numberof Windows menu selections 412-418 or one of keys F5 through F8 isselected.

When the Three Windows 416 selection of Browser menu 214 is selected, athree web page display 510 is displayed as shown in FIG. 5. Thedifference between the four web page display 210 and the three web pagedisplay 510 is that the fourth display pane 212 d is no longerdisplayed. The pop-down menu controls 214 and the sizing control 216remains in the three web page display 510. The sizing control 216 forthe three web page display 510 is always positioned at the intersectionof the common corners of the two display panes 212 b and 212 c and thecommon edge of the display pane 212 a as illustrated in FIG. 5. Thesizing control 216 operates in the manner described above toautomatically resize the display panes 212.

A two web page display 610 has only two display panes 212 a and 212 b asshown in FIG. 6. Again, the pop-down menu controls 214 and the sizingcontrol 216 remain in the two web page display 610 and operate in themanner described above. The sizing control 216 for the two web pagedisplay 610 is always positioned in the middle of the common-edge ofdisplay panes 212 a and 212 b, shown in FIG. 6.

A one web page display 220 has only the display pane 212 a displayed asshown in FIG. 7. As with the other web page displays, the pop-down menucontrol 214 remains. However, the sizing control 216 is no longer neededand is therefore not available.

Activation of the Save As menu selection 422 of the Browser menu control214 allows the user to save any web page currently being displayed inone of the active display panes 212, as illustrated by a screen displayof FIG. 8. The current web page is saved in Hypertext. Markup Language(HTML) format on to the computer workstation user terminal 110. In thecase illustrated by FIG. 8, four display panes are selected in the fourweb page display 210. Therefore, the Save As menu selection 422 allowsselection of any one or more of the four web pages currently beingdisplayed. The web page being displayed in display pane 212 a can besaved by selecting the topmost menu selection of the Save As menuselection 422. The web page being displayed in display pane 212 b can besaved by selecting the second topmost, menu selection of the Save Asmenu selection 422. The web page being displayed in display pane 212 ccan be saved by selecting the third topmost Save As menu selection 422.The web page being displayed in display pane 212 d can be saved byselecting the bottommost Save As menu selection 422.

The Save As menu selection 422 has been described specifically relatedto the four web page display 210. However, if fewer panes have beenselected, such as in the three web page display 510, the two web pagedisplay 610, or the one web page display 220, the procedure to save aweb page currently being displayed in one of the display panes is thesame except that the Save As menu selection 422 would have fewer menuselections according to the number of display panes selected. Theoperation of a Print menu selection 422 of the Browser menu control 214,shown in FIG. 9, is similar to the operation of the Save As menuselection 422 except that in this case the selected web page is printedinstead of being saved in HTML format.

The Control menu 1010 of the pop-down menu controls 214 includescontrols for all selected display panes 212. For the case of the fourweb page display 210 illustrated in FIG. 10, the Control Menu 1010includes-controls for display panes 212 a, 212 b, 212 c, and 212 d. TheControl menu 1010 includes a Stop All selection 1012. The Stop Allselection 1012 has the same effect when selected as the stop control 224of the display pane 212 a of FIG. 2 except that the stop control 224 isfor an individual display pane, whereas the Stop All selection 1012affects all display panes 212 currently selected. In the case of FIG.10, where the four web page display 210 is shown, the Stop All selection1012 would terminate any communication currently occurring with any ofthe web sites shown in the four display panes 212. For the case of thethree web page display 510, two web page display 610, and the one webpage display 220, the Control Menu 1010 also includes a Stop Allselection 1012 that operates in the same manner except that the numberof web pages affected is fewer according to the number of display panes212 being selected.

The Control menu 1010 of the pop-down menu controls 214 also has aRefresh All selection 1014. The Refresh All selection 1014 is the sameas the refresh control 226 of display pane 212 a shown in FIG. 2 exceptthat the refresh control 226 controls refresh of only the display pane212 a, whereas the Refresh All selection 1014 activates refresh of allthe active display panes. For the case of the four web page display 210of FIG. 10, activation of the Refresh All selection 214 repeats thedownload of each of the web pages currently being displayed in the fourdisplay panes 212. For the case of the three web page display 510, twoweb page display 610, and the one web page display 220, the Refresh Allselection 1014 operates the same except the number of web pages beingrefreshed is fewer according to the number of selected display panes.

The Control menu 1010 also has a Home All selection 1016 and a SearchAll selection 1018. When a user selects either the Home All selection1016 or the Search All selection 1018, all currently selected displaypanes 212 download predetermined web pages. For the case illustrated byFIG. 10 showing the four web page display 210, four display panes 212download four predetermined web pages. For the case of the three webpage display 510, the two web page display 610, and the one web page220, three, two, and one predetermined web pages, respectively, aredownloaded. Each display pane 212 has a specific web page designated asa home web page and a specific web page designated as a search web page.The home web page and the search web page for a particular display panecan be different from one another, and can be different from other homeand search web pages for other display panes. Designation of the homeand search web pages are further discussed below.

A ScrollMarks menu 1110 of the pop-down menu controls 214 as part of thefour web page display 210 is illustrated in FIG. 11. The ScrollMarksmenu 1110 includes an Edit selection 1112. The Edit selection 1112allows a user to edit a list of web page URLs that serve as addressesfor particular web pages. Upon selection of a StartScrollShow selection1114 of the ScrollMarks menu 1110, the four web page display 210displays the first four web pages on the list of web page URLs.Selection of a Scroll Forward selection 1116 and a Scroll Back selection1118 of the ScrollMarks menu 1110 allows a user to scroll forward andbackward, respectively, through the list of web page URLs to displayother web pages that are on the list. In the present embodiment of theinvention, scrolling is done by one, two, three, or four web pages at atime. For example, if scrolling is done by two web pages at a time forthe four web page display 210, two previously displayed web pages are nolonger displayed and two new web pages are shifted to the display panes212 which had been displaying the web pages no longer displayed, andsubsequent two or previous two web pages on the list are displayed inthe remaining display panes 212. Thus, the web pages of display panes212 a and 212 b are no longer displayed and the web pages of displaypanes 212 c and 212 d are shifted into display panes 212 a and 212 b,respectively. The next two new web pages from the list of web page URLsare shifted into the display panes-212 c and 212 d, respectively. Asimilar shifting process occurs when scrolling is done by one, three orfour web pages at a time.

A Favorites menu 1210 of the pop-down menu controls 214 having Add toFavorites selection 1212 and Open Favorites selection 1214 is shown inFIG. 12. The Add to Favorites selection 1212 as shown in FIG. 13 whenselected displays an Add to Favorites list 1310. The Add to Favoriteslist 1310 allows a user to select by description or title, any of theweb pages currently being displayed. Selection of any of the web pagescauses the URL of the selected web page to be added to a Favorites list.The Favorites list is permanently stored in computer 112 on a disk drive(not shown).

Any web page in the Favorites list can be accessed by using the OpenFavorites selection 1214, as shown in FIG. 12. Selection of the OpenFavorites selection 1214 opens the Favorites list which has briefdescriptions or titles of stored URLs. A user opens a desired web pageby selecting a web page title or description using the drag-and-dropfeature of the mouse input device 120. The user drags the web pagedescription or title into one of the display panes 212 and the mousebutton 120 a. Once a user releases a desired web page description ortitle into a display pane 212, the web page display system thenautomatically downloads the desired web page using the stored URL of thedesired web page. The desired web page is downloaded into the web pagedisplay system and is displayed on a display pane 212 in which the titleor description of the desired web page was dropped by the user.

The ability to drag and drop URLs from the Favorites list into anydisplay pane 212 provides the user with powerful navigation tools.Similarly, the user can also drag and drop any URL that is displayed inone display pane 212 into another display pane 212 to automaticallyselect downloading of a web page that has the particular URL. Forinstance, in one case display pane 212 a displays a list of URLs from asearch performed by a user. The user then drags and drops one of theURLs displayed in display pane 2112 a into display pane 212 b. The webpage display system of the present embodiment then downloads the webpage corresponding to the URL dropped into the display pane 212 b.Subsequently, the display pane 212 b displays the downloaded web page.

In an alternative embodiment, the web page display is executed in awindows environment such as Microsoft Active Desktop in conjunction withthe Internet Explorer engine which allows the Favorites menu 1210 of thepop-down menu controls 214 to directly display titles and descriptionsassociated with URLs that are also stored in the Favorites list. A userthen has an option of selecting a URL directly from the Favorites menu1210 or the Favorites list. As part of this alternative embodiment, auser selects a URL directly from the Favorites menu 1210 by positioninga display cursor over a desired URL title or description on theFavorites menu 1210 and then a first single click of the mouse button120 a of the mouse input device 120 is performed. After the first singleclick of the mouse button 120 a, the display cursor is displayed as agraphical object different than displayed before performance of thefirst single click. For example, the display cursor may change from anarrow to an cross-hairs after the first click of the mouse button 120 a.With the mouse input device 120, the user then moves the display cursor(eg. the cross-hairs) into an area of a desired one of the currentlyactive display panes 212 and then performs a second single click of themouse button 120 a. This initiates download of a desired web pageassociated with the desired URL and subsequent display of the desiredweb page in the desired display pane 212. The display cursor is thendisplayed as it was displayed before the first single click of the mousebutton 120 a was performed.

A Configure menu 1410 of the pop-down menu controls 214 has a ScrollOptions selection 1412 and an Internet Options selection 1414, as shownin FIG. 14. When the Internet Options selection 1414 of the Configuremenu 1410 is selected, various Internet configuration options well knownin the art are accessed. By selecting the Scroll Options selection 1412of the Configure menu 1410, a user can access various menus forconfiguration illustrated in FIGS. 15-17.

A configuration menu system 1510, shown in FIG. 15, is accessed byactivating the Scroll Options selection 1412 (see FIG. 14) of theConfigure menu 1410 of the pop-down menu controls 214. The configurationmenu system 1510 has a Home and Search selection 1512, a Scroll Marksselection 1514, a Configure selection 1516, an About selection 1518, anda Help selection 1520. Activation of the About selection 1518 and theHelp selection 1520 provides information about the particular releasenumber of the current menu display system and help information aboutparticular functions and features of the web page display system. Thesefunctions are well known and need not be described herein. As shown onFIG. 15, two lists of URLs are displayed when the Home and Searchselection 1512 is selected. A Default Home Sites list 1522 of the Homeand Search Selection 1512 contains URLs for the predetermined web pagesites for display panes 212 a-d. Panes 1-4 on the Default Home Siteslist 1522 correspond to display panes 212 a-d, respectively.

For example, Pane 1 shown in FIG. 2 has a URL of“http://www.katiesoft.com/update1.htm.” Given this designation for thedefault home site of display pane 212 a, when a user selects the homecontrol 228 of the individual display pane 212 a shown in FIG. 2, a webpage having an address with the URL of“http://www.katiesoft.com/update1.htm” is downloaded into the web pagedisplay system and displayed in display pane 212 a. If the two web pagedisplay 610 is currently being displayed, then Pane 2 would also be usedfor display pane 212 b. If the three web page display 510 is being used,then Panes 1-3 would be used. Finally, if the four web page display 210is being used, then Panes 1-4 would be used. The Default Search Siteslist 1524 is used in a manner similar to the way in which the DefaultHome Sites list 1522 is used. For the case of the Default Search Siteslist 1524, the search controls 230 of the individual display panes 212are used to activate the corresponding Default Search Sites list 1524.It should be noted that the user can independently specify a defaulthome web site and a default search web site for each display pane.Although illustrated with four display panes 212 a-212 d, the presentinvention is not limited by the number of display panes.

When the ScrollMarks selection 1514 of the configuration menu system1510 has been selected, a group of URLs 1610 is displayed, asillustrated in FIG. 16. A list of URLs 1610 is shown for a group havinga group name 1612 of “Group 1.” However, the user may select anyconvenient group name. Selection tab 1614 allows a user to select othergroups from a pop-down list of groups 1710, as shown in FIG. 17. Othergroups may be readily selected by the user with conventional “point andclick” techniques using the mouse input device 120 (see FIG. 1). Whenanother group is selected, the list of URLs 1610 changes to the list ofURLs of the currently selected group. The user can edit the currentlyselected list using conventional editing techniques. A Save button 1616of the Scroll Marks selection 1514 is selected by a user to save anychanges made to the currently displayed URL list 1610. The currentlydisplayed URL list 1610 of the configuration menu system 1510 is alsoshown by the URL indicators 232 when the access control 234 is selected,as shown in FIG. 2. Since each display pane 212 has a URL indicator 232,each display pane 212 displays the current URL list 1610 when the accesscontrol 234 of any one of the display panes 212 is selected.

For example, a user can create groups of URL list containing up totwenty web pages on the subjects of fishing, baseball, investments,education, or the arts. To access web pages on a particular subject, theuser first selects the group corresponding to the particular subject ofinterest and then manually selects a web page from the selected URL list1610 through the use of the URL indicator 232 and the access control 234of one or more display panes 212. FIG. 18 illustrates a pop-down list ofURLs 1810 displayed in the URL indicator 232 of the display pane 212 a.The user can go directly to one of these listed URLs by using point andclick features of the mouse input device 120. Alternatively, the usercan scroll through the web pages of the selected URL list 1610 by usingthe Scroll Forward selection 1116 or the Scroll Back selection 1118 ofthe ScrollMarks menu 1110 shown in FIG. 11.

FIG. 19 illustrates the Configure selection 1516 (see FIG. 15) of theconfiguration menu system 1510, including Start Up options 1910,ScrollShow options 1920, and Auto Refresh options 1930. The Start Upoptions 1910 include a checkbox for navigating to sites last viewed onstartup, a checkbox for tiling the display panes 212 vertically in thetwo web page display 610 (see FIG. 6), and a user-selectable option fora designated number of display panes 212 displayed on startup of the webpage display system.

The ScrollShow options 1920 include a user-selectable option for anumber of web page sites to advance back or forward when the Scrollforward 1116 (see FIG. 11) or Scroll Back 1118 selection is selected,and a checkbox to lock the display pane 212 a in the ScrollShow modesuch that the web page displayed in the display pane 2112 a is notchanged when a user scrolls forward or backwards using the ScrollForward selection 1116 (see FIG. 11) or the Scroll Back selection 1118of the ScrollMarks menu 1110. The Auto Refresh options 1930 include acheckbox to allow autorefresh for each of the display panes 212 a-212 dand a user-selectable option that allows the user to designate how-oftenthe currently displayed web page in each individual display pane 212 isdownloaded from the web page site to refresh the display.

In a further embodiment, a “Default” check box is found in theconfiguration menu system 1510. Activation of the Default checkbox 1940of FIG. 19 changes file associations stored in the registry file of thecomputer operating system to select the present invention as the defaultbrowser. Procedures for changing file associations are well known in theart. As a result of the modified file associations, if the URL of aparticular htm, http, html, or similar file is activated by a usertypically clicking on the URL using the input mouse device 120,execution of the web page display of the further embodiment is initiatedif the web page display is not already active. The URL is foundtypically in word processing documents, e-mail documents or othercomputer files typically not displayed with a web browser. Theassociated htm, http, html, or similar files are typically found on aweb site 132 on a network 130 or a local computer workstation userterminal 110.

FIG. 20 illustrates a help menu 2010 of the pop-down menu control 214,which has a Contents selection 2012, a Product Updates selection 2014,and an About selection 2016. The Contents selection 2012 and the Aboutselection 2016 access the configuration menu system 1510. The ProductUpdates selection 2014 accesses a web page containing information aboutproduct updates of the web page display system.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that, although specificembodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes ofillustration, various modifications may be made without deviating fromthe spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is notlimited except as by the appended claims.

1-23. (canceled)
 24. A method of displaying a plurality of web pages viaa plurality of display areas configured to display a received web page,the method comprising: receiving an indication from a user to displayweb pages listed in a list of web page addresses; and upon receiving theindication from the user, activating a group of the plurality of displayareas to each display a web page received from a respective web pageaddress contained in the list of web page addresses.
 25. The method ofclaim 24, further comprising: requesting web pages from web page sitesassociated with addresses listed in the list of web page addresses;receiving the requested web pages; and displaying the web pages duringthe activating.
 26. The method of claim 24, wherein the plurality ofdisplay areas comprise a plurality of non-overlapping display areas. 27.The method of claim 24, wherein: the list of web page addresses has anorder; the display areas have an order; and activating a group of theplurality of display areas to each display a web page comprisesactivating a group of the plurality of display areas to each display aweb page according to the order of the list of web page addresses andthe order of the display areas.
 28. The method of claim 27, furthercomprising: receiving one or more ordered lists of web page addresses;storing the received one or more ordered lists of web page addresses toa data storage area; and selecting a first set of web page addressesfrom one of the received one or more ordered lists of web pageaddresses; and wherein activating a group of the plurality of displayareas to each display a web page comprises activating a group of theplurality of display areas to each display a web page received from arespective web page address contained in the selected first set of webpage addresses.
 29. The method of claim 28, wherein receiving one ormore ordered lists of web page addresses comprises: displaying a webpage address list configuration control to a user; and receiving one ormore ordered lists of web page addresses via the displayed web pageaddress list configuration control.
 30. The method of claim 29, furthercomprising: receiving via the web page address list configurationcontrol an indication of a first set of web page addresses from one ofthe stored one or more lists of web page addresses; and receiving viathe web page address list configuration control an indication of asecond set of web page addresses from one of the stored one or morelists of web page addresses.
 31. The method of claim 30, wherein:selecting a first set of web page addresses to display comprisesselecting the indicated first set of web page addresses; the indicatedsecond set of web page addresses has an order; and the method furthercomprises: receiving a second indication from a user to display webpages from a list of web page addresses; and activating a group of theplurality of display areas to each display a web page received from arespective web page address contained in the indicated second set of webpage addresses to replace currently-displayed web pages according to theorder of the indicated second set of web page addresses and the order ofthe display areas.
 32. The method of claim 29, wherein the displayfurther comprises a scroll control to control an advancement of webpages; and wherein the method further comprises: receiving an indicationthat the scroll control has been activated; subsequent to receiving theindication that the scroll control has been activated, selecting asecond set of web page addresses from the list of web page sites fromwhich currently-displayed web pages have been received, the second setselected to advance sequentially through the ordered list of web pageaddresses from which the first and second selected sets are selected forat least one of the plurality of display areas; and activating a groupof the plurality of display areas to each display a web page receivedfrom a respective web page address contained in the second set of webpage addresses.
 33. The method of 32, wherein: the display furthercomprises one or more scroll lock controls; the method further comprisesreceiving an indication that a scroll lock control has been activated todesignate a selected display area such that the group of display areasis activated to each display a web page received from web page addresseswhich advance sequentially are display areas other than the display areadesignated by activation of the scroll lock; and activating the group ofthe plurality of display areas to each display a web page comprisesactivating display areas other than the display area designated by theactivation of the scroll lock control.
 34. A display system operable todisplay web pages, the display system comprising: a software program incomputer memory configured to display web pages; a plurality of displayareas, each configured to independently display a web page; and adisplay control configured to activate a group of the display areas toeach display a web page received from a respective web page addresscontained in a list of web page addresses.
 35. The display system ofclaim 34, wherein the software program is configured to communicate withand control one or more separate web browser software programs.
 36. Thedisplay system of claim 34, wherein the display control is furtherconfigured to select the list of web page addresses from a plurality oflists of web page addresses, and wherein the display system furthercomprises a storage area which is configured to store the plurality oflists of web page addresses.
 37. The display system of claim 34,wherein: the list of web page addresses has an order; the display areashave an order; and the display control is configured to activate thedisplay areas to display web sites according to both the order of thedisplay areas and the order of the list of web page addresses.
 38. Thedisplay system of claim 37, wherein the display system further comprisesa scrolling control which is configured to cause the plurality ofdisplay areas to advance by sequentially displaying web pages accordingto the order of the list.
 39. One or more computer-readable media which,when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform a method, themethod comprising: displaying a plurality of display areas for a user,each display area configured to display a received web page; receivingan indication from the user to display web pages listed in a list of webpage addresses; and activating a group of the plurality of display areasto each display a web page received from a respective web page addresscontained in the list of web page addresses.
 40. The one or morecomputer-readable media of claim 39, wherein: the list of web pageaddresses has an order; the display areas are ordered; and activating agroup of the plurality of display areas to each display a web pagecomprises displaying web pages from the list of web page addressesaccording to the order of the list of web page addresses and the orderof the display areas; and wherein the method further comprises:receiving one or more ordered lists of web page addresses; storing thereceived one or more ordered lists of web page addresses to a datastorage area; and selecting a first set of web page addresses from oneof the received one or more ordered lists of web page addresses; andwherein activating a group of the plurality of display areas to eachdisplay a web page comprises activating a group of the plurality ofdisplay areas to each display a web page received from a respective webpage address contained in the selected first set of web page addresses.41. The computer-readable media of claim 40, wherein receiving one ormore ordered lists of web page addresses comprises: displaying a webpage address list configuration control to a user; and receiving one ormore ordered lists of web page addresses via the displayed web pageaddress list configuration control; and wherein the method furthercomprises: receiving via the web page address list configuration controlan indication of a first set of web page addresses from one of thestored one or more lists of web page addresses; and receiving via theweb page address list configuration control an indication of a secondset of web page addresses from one of the stored one or more lists ofweb page addresses.
 42. The computer-readable media of claim 41,wherein: selecting a first set of web page addresses to displaycomprises selecting the indicated first set of web page addresses; theindicated second set of web page addresses has an order; and the methodfurther comprises: receiving a second indication from a user to displayweb pages listed in a list of web page addresses; and activating a groupof the plurality of display areas to each display a web page receivedfrom a respective web page address contained in the indicated second setof web page addresses to replace currently-displayed web pages accordingto the order of the indicated second set of web page addresses and theorder of the display areas.
 43. The computer-readable media of claim 40,wherein receiving one or more ordered lists of web page addressescomprises: displaying a web page address list configuration control to auser; and receiving one or more ordered lists of web page addresses viathe displayed web page address list configuration control; and whereinthe display further comprises a scroll control to control an advancementof web pages; and wherein the method further comprises: receiving anindication that the scroll control has been activated; subsequent toreceiving an indication that the scroll control has been activated,selecting a second set of web page addresses from the list of web pageaddresses from which currently-displayed web pages were received, thesecond set selected to advance sequentially through the ordered listfrom which the first and second selected sets are selected for at leastone of the plurality of display areas; and activating a group of theplurality of display areas to each display a web page received from arespective web page address contained in the second set of web pageaddresses.